Sen. Bernie won the West Virginia primary Tuesday even after Secretary Clinton had gone there to make her usual pandering statements about helping to keep the coal industry alive. (It did not matter as the laidoff coal workers who seemingly lack the intelligence to understand that their industry has been in decline for thirty years yet, still they blame Obama and the EPA. As proof many of the out-of-work miners say they will vote Republican. Case closed!)

But back to Bernie, he still has a very slim hope of securing the nomination from Hillary "Goldman Sachs" Clinton if he can sweep the West Coast. Then there is the convention in Philadelphia this July which has all the trappings of a lobbyist love-fest. According to Lee Fang and Zaid Silani at The Intercept: Democratic Convention Hosted by Republican Donors, Anti-Obamacare Lobbyists (May 11) regardless of how many delegates Bernie has it won't make any difference. "But the 2016 convention in Philadelphia will be officially hosted by lobbyists and corporate executives, a number of whom are actively working to undermine progressive policies achieved by President Barack Obama, including health care reform and net neutrality." How can a progressive like Sanders hope to move the Democratic Party to the left and address the real issues of inequality and the country in this convention.

The sellout was initiated "In October 2015, DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., reportedly huddled with dozens of lobbyists to plan the convention in Philadelphia, and provided the influence peddlers involved with a menu of offerings in exchange for donations. In February, news reports revealed that the DNC had quietly lifted the Obama-era ban on federal lobbyist donations to the party and convention committee." according to Fang and Silani.

So, just a bit of analysis here. How does Sanders, a man pushing a single-payer healthcare system, etc. have any real say in a convention run by a sleaze-bag sellout like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and hosted by "The Host Committee’s finance chair is Daniel Hilferty. In his day job, Hilferty is CEO of Independence Blue Cross, a health insurance giant that covers nine million people. In December, Hilferty became board chairman of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association of America, a trade group that lobbies for the insurance industry, and he serves on the board of directors of America’s Health Insurance Plan’s (AHIP), the insurance industry lobbying group that spearheaded the campaign against the Affordable Care Act. Lobby registration documents show the BCBS Association is actively supporting a number of Republican bills to roll back provisions of the ACA."